7 Easy-Peasy Portion-Control Tricks

7 Easy-Peasy Portion-Control Tricks

In a world where pasta comes in a vat you can practically swim in and restaurant entrees could fill a trough, how are you supposed to not overeat, let alone lose weight? And what does a four-ounce piece of meat look like anyway? Read on for the easiest tricks for portion control ever—no measuring cups required.

You can fill your plate—just not how you might think! “My all-time favorite way to think about portions is to use the plate method,” says Julie Kaye, M.P.H., R.D., C.D.N., a registered dietitian in New York City. Fill half a dinner plate with low-starch vegetables like broccoli, a quarter of the plate with a high-fiber starch like whole-wheat bread (yes, carbs!) and the other quarter with a lean protein like grilled chicken breast. “It’s a tried-and-true method that can be done anywhere,” Kaye says. “No excuses.”

Portion-Control Trick for Weight Loss: Put Down the Bag of Chips

When the bag you’re dipping into contains six or eight servings (and most do!), snacking straight from the container is an overeating disaster waiting to happen. “Count out the number of crackers or chips that make up a serving, then close the box and put it away,” says Kaye.

When you get home from the grocery store, divvy up your food into single-size baggies. “It will keep you from overeating, but it’s also a huge time-saver throughout the week,” says Erin Palinski, R.D, C.D.E., C.P.T., a registered dietitian in New Jersey and author of the upcoming Belly Fat Diet for Dummies. “It’s much easier to reach for something healthy in the right portion size when the work is already done for you.”

You may end up spending a bit more money at the store, but many food items for sale—crackers, veggies, even salad dressings—come in single-serving packets. They take even more of the guesswork out of portion sizes. Just don’t eat two or three at a time, of course.

Portion Control Trick for Weight Loss: Let Your Dishware Do the Work for You

According to a study in the Journal of Consumer Research, when people are trying to put the same amount of food onto large and small plates, they overestimate how much to put on the big plates and underestimate how much to put on the small plates. Smaller plates will keep you from starting out with an oversize portion to begin with. “Another idea is to keep a stack of ramekins in your cabinet and use only those for snacks,” Kaye says.

Portion-Control Trick for Weight Loss: Put More of the Good Stuff on Your Plate

Eating more sounds too good to be true, right? Nope, says Kaye. “For those of us who like to eat big portions, fill up on lower-calorie foods, like vegetables and salads, in order to keep your portions of other foods in check. Rather than always thinking about keeping portions small, think about what foods can be eaten in unlimited portions, such as string beans, kale, collards, broccoli, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts. They take up space in our stomach and make us feel sated.”

Portion-Control Trick for Weight Loss: Add the Extras Before the Food

Coffee flavorings and creamers, salad dressings and spreadable condiments are all portion-control offenders—it’s easy to overdo it without meaning to. So instead of adding creamer after you’ve already poured a cup of coffee, measure it out and put it in first, Palinski says.